It’s Just a Matter of Time

I’m one of those people who needs to have the latest and greatest right away. So, when Facebook introduced Timeline, its much-anticipated massive overhaul to user profiles (think curated digital scrapbook), I upgraded immediately. I didn’t bother reading what it was all about or how it worked. I simply had to have it.

Then the holidays came and my Facebook life was put on the backburner as I spent quality time with friends, family and Hollywood’s latest blockbusters (if you haven’t seen Hugo, by the way, you are missing out on a true masterpiece). I completely overlooked the seven-day review period where I was supposed to work through my Timeline to get things ready before going public Little did I know that after the review period, there’s no turning back.

As is the case with any major upgrade, the new Timeline requires patience and commitment. Since I don’t have a lot of time these days, my initial instinct was to look for the “go to static view” button. But, I couldn’t find it. Certainly, Facebook wouldn’t require us to live with this change, right? Wrong.

(Really? Really? Do you really need to rush us into such a dramatic change?).

So, I turned to Google and found pages upon pages of strategies for turning back time. Apparently, I wasn’t alone.

According to InsideFacebook, scammers are exploiting the negative sentiments surrounding Timeline by prompting the disenfranchised to Like, download or watch videos to deactivate, remove or disable it. I was one of those suckers.

I’ve now come to accept that resistance, my friends, is futile. While only a fraction of Facebook users have already adopted Timeline and it’s still an option, pretty soon it won’t be. According to the Associated Press, “There’s no sense in holding out. Timeline will eventually go live for everyone on Facebook, whether or not the user has taken the time to prune and optimize the Timeline view. It’s best to be proactive and make sure what people will see is what should be seen.”

So, I’m in the process of curating my new look to the world and preparing myself for my Facebook makeover. And, I admit, the more time I spend with it, the more I like it. I just needed time.

It will be interesting to see how marketers will embrace Timeline when it becomes available. To date, there has been no official release date for brands, but Mashable offers an interesting glimpse of what we might expect. How about you, have you revealed your new face to the world?